Northern Spiny Tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris) are native to Australia, mostly the Northern Territory but they have been found in some parts of Queensland and Western Australia as well. They are an adaptable species that can be found in a variety of habitats, but they are most frequently found in arid areas often living in spinifex grass and small shrubs. They are primarily active when hunting at night but they spend most of the day actively basking while asleep so they are almost always on display. Their small size and robust nature make them a relatively easy to care for species. They prefer quite high temperatures and although they are from an arid environment they will appreciate a daily light misting of their enclosure as they will often drink water droplets off cage furnishings rather than drinking from their water bowl. They are almost exclusively insectivorous by nature but in the wild they would also occasionally consume sugary tree sap and we have found ours will sometimes take a little honey or even fruit based gecko diets. Like all Strophurus species they can squirt a sticky mucus from the base of their tail to deter predators, although this is very rarely seen in captivity. The Latin “Strophurus” approximately translates to “turning tail” as when they squirt this sticky mucous, they would arch their tail up over their body to direct the mucous excretion in the direction of a predator.  There are two subspecies, the ones we breed are the Strophurus ciliaris ciliaris, the other subspecies Strophurus ciliaris abarrens is virtually non-existent in the UK. Strophurus ciliaris is arguably the most attractive of the Strophurus species and highly sought after. Once an incredibly expensive gecko, our astounding success and regularity breeding this species here in store has made them far more readily available and has bought the price down to a far more reasonable level. They are a calm and handleable species which is very unusual for a small gecko but this is probably due to them having an extra layer of defensive tactics, so they don’t have to rely on speed to avoid predation. These are a very straight forward species to keep, and they could be a good fit for someone looking for a much more unusual species as a first pet gecko.

Like Virtually all the animals we sell, these are bred right here in store.